More Publishers Planning to Charge for Online Content but Consumers May Not Cooperate

A pair of new reports from Forrester Research offer sobering data for newspapers and magazines planning to charge for content. A recent American Press Institute survey found that 58% of newspaper respondents are considering initiating paid access for currently open/free news and information online, and nearly 25 % expect to implement a paid strategy in the next six months. “This is a big change, considering that 90 % of the responding newspapers currently do not charge for content, and only 3% currently have a paid-only site.”

But in Publishers Need Multichannel Subscription Models Forrester finds that “most consumers (80%) say they wouldn’t bother to access newspaper and magazine content online if it were no longer free (no surprise), and the rest are split about how they’d like to pay for content:

What’s more, “those consumers can’t be identified by demographic segmentation alone; publishers must use engagement metrics to target the right consumers with the right offer. And what that offer is will vary: While some consumers say they’d prefer a multichannel subscription bundle, others say they’d consider a single-channel subscription or micropayments. While some consumers voice a preference for Web delivery, others prefer access via mobile devices like phones, eReaders, and netbooks.”

The situation in Europe is similar, in Who Will Pay For Online Content? Forrester finds that 4% of European Internet users surveyed pay for online news content, and 12% said they would pay for it in the future. The picture is somewhat brighter for music and movies, followed by eBooks and games:

Comments

[Robespierre2:]

People are too used to free content.... even the Wall St Journal pieces are posted free somewhere... you just have to google em.

Ditto for music, movies and books.

I don't see how the industry can stay ahead of the pirates. We all love the pirate sites too much.

and besides... it's not the artists who are losing... it's the parasites with precious metals in their names who are losing their %.

to the guillotines with the lot of em!!

Nov 18 10:12 AM